The Broncos enter a new season with only two seniors in David Brown and Shayne Whittington, both of whom will start. Junior Austin Richie will start at point guard.

Behind them there are young players, some proven and more unproven.

Sophomore forward Connar Tava, who will start at power forward, promises to excel in Hawkins’ system as a hard-working physical player.

Tava is a player who dribbles and passes better than the average power forward, which gives Hawkins the option to play him at three different positions on offense. Tava’s quickness gives him the ability to defend all five positions in the half-court setting.

Fellow sophomores Taylor Perry, who will either start or be a backup to freshman Tucker Haymond at the small forward position and can back up Brown, and backup point guard Jared Klein are also expected to take another step forward this season.

After that, there are question marks.

Sophomore power forward forward A.J. Avery will be a major contributor off the bench. He played in 19 games last season, but averaged just under five minutes per appearance and grabbed an average of just under one rebound and scored about one point per game.

Avery’s minutes are sure to increase drastically with the departure of Darius Paul to Illinois and the graduation of Dan Loney. Redshirt freshman Kellen McCormick and freshman Mario Matasovic are also expected to play steady minutes this season in the front court.

The trio will share time at the power forward and center position. Their development could have the biggest impact on the season as Hawkins’ schemes revolve around defense and rebounding, which he said after a recent practice he isn’t completely comfortable with yet.

The thing about Hawkins’ program is that he recruits hard workers, and that is usually the attitude you see on the floor.

WMU is without three of its top five scorers. Whittington, Brown and Richie will do their part, but where the rest of the shot attempts and scoring will come from are questions that won’t be answered until the season starts.

That blue collar, lunch pail philosophy that defines WMU men’s basketball under Hawkins will have to be at the forefront this season as WMU’s finds its offensive game.

The Broncos were picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division by voting media members, and that’s where I picked them.

I think Toledo is a much better team than Western Michigan and I have a hard time seeing the Broncos surpass the Rockets for back-to-back MAC West Division titles.

That said, the Broncos’ starting five can stand its ground with any lineup in the league. What they need is depth, and how much they get out of their bench players will say a lot for the end result.

Scouting report: WMU saw one of its better players transfer to a different school for the third consecutive year when forward Darius Paul departed for Illinois after last season. Whittington and Brown, the lone seniors, will be counted on for production and leadership. Although Richie seems comfortable at the point guard spot, he came to WMU with a scoring mentality. If sophomore Jared Klein can continue to devleop as a reliable point guard it could create more scoring opportunities for Richie and the Broncos, who lost three of their top five scorers last season in Paul and graduated seniors Brandon Pokley and Nate Hutcheson. WMU's starting five should match up well against most opposing starting lineups, but the Broncos are young on the bench and the production from guards Klein and Taylor Perry, and forwards A.J. Avery, Kellen McCormick and Mario Matasovic could play a big role in the team's success this season.